Lucky Nine
by AvAMartini
Summary: Morelli finds out about Stephanie and Ranger... Morelli proposes... and so does Ranger?
1. Chapter 1

Lucky Nine 

By Breank

CHAPTER 1 

I was lying beside Morelli with his arm under my head. It had been weeks since Abruzzi _killed_ himself. I shivered at the memory of what happened. Morelli stirred beneath me. He drew me closer until the top of my head was touching his chin. I sighed. I felt overwhelmed with the idea that I was once again in Morelli's apartment, sleeping in his bed. This time there was no shouting between the two of them when I told him that I was going back to work. He still didn't like it, but I assured him, that I would tell him everything about what I worked on and how it was going.

My mind drifted back to Ranger. I still believed in the back of my mind that he had something to do with Abruzzi's death, but I was not dumb enough to pursue it. It was chilling though to know that he actually killed someone for my sake. I prayed that he would not ask for some form of payment with what he did. Although he seemed to have lessened his interest in me when he saw that I was back with Morelli. Ranger was one of a kind. He really did want me to get it together with Morelli. I still felt guilty with what we did, but that was the past. I snuggled closer and placed a kiss on Morelli's chest. This was now.

My movements awakened Morelli. He sleepily kissed my forehead and placed his arms around me. "What's wrong, cupcake? You weren't satisfied enough?" He whispered huskily. Are you kidding me? What Morelli did a while ago made me forget Ranger's magic. _It was better than a Ranger-induced orgasm!_

"WHAT?" Morelli was up in a flash. EEEK! I had said it out loud! I mentally slapped my head. Shit! Pretend nothing happened.

"What?" I asked innocently. Morelli was wide-awake now. He reached for the lamp and turned it on. He stared at me.

"Don't act innocent. I heard what you said." He fell quiet. I could feel my heart beat against my rib cage. Dear God, not now. Not when everything was going perfect!

"When did you do it with Ranger?" His words were tight. I could feel him holding back his anger. He would not believe me if I denied it.

"We were on a break!" I answered pleadingly. It was true; they had had a fight and Morelli made it clear that there was no _US_ back then.

"Fuck." He said it quietly as he stood up and went to the bathroom.

Shit, shit, shit! What the hell did that mean? I made my way to the bathroom door and knocked. "Morelli, damn it. It happened a long time ago!" At least that was how it felt now. I heard rustling inside. I tried the doorknob but it was locked. I went back to bed and looked at the alarm clock. It was 6 a.m.

The door to the bathroom opened. Out came Morelli in jeans and black leather jacket. He made his way out the bedroom without even looking at me. I followed him, calling out to him. He grabbed his keys of the wall and slammed the front door shut.

"What happened to you?" I had just entered the office and was greeted by Connie. Lula had just looked up from her filing and let out a whistle.

"You and Morelli had a fight? I thought you were tight now?"

"It's nothing. What do you have for me Connie?" She looked at me suspiciously. Lula came over and was staring too.

"Girl, you don't even have mascara on! This is serious!" She had her hands on her wide hips and was giving me a tell-me-everything look.

I shook my head at her. This was too personal. I didn't want to involve more people in it. We heard the elevator open and Ranger walked in. Both ladies beside me held their breath at the site of him. He raised his eyebrow at me. Shit! Did I really look hell-bent?

"Sorry, guys. Business seems to be going slow today. I'll call both of you when we get something." Connie said huskily, still staring at Ranger.

I started to walk out of the office. I whispered for Ranger to follow when I passed him, ignoring the two pairs of eyes staring a hole through my back.

"What is it, Babe?" He asked when we reached my car; I faced Ranger and gave him a serious look.

"Morelli found out about, um, that night." I suddenly found my high heels interesting.

"Fuck." I looked up at him glumly. He looked stricken.

"That's what he said too." I felt a tear slide down my cheek. "I blurted it out, accidentally." I whined. I felt like a ninny, but I was desperate. I did not know what to do. I tried to find Morelli before I went to the office, but he could not be found or he did not want to be found. I didn't want anyone else to know about it, rumor had a way of getting creative. There was no way I was going to mess this one up.

"So what's your plan?"

"Yeah what's your plan?" I jumped at the sound of Morelli's voice. Ranger turned to see him leaning on his car, parked on the sidewalk. Morelli walked slowly towards us. He had on his cop-face, which I could never read.

"Joe! I've been looking for you!" He let out a short laugh.

"Ranger doesn't know where I was. Isn't that what you're asking him? Or were you telling him to lie low for a while because I found out about the two of you?" He was loosing control now. His hands were clenched at his sides. I held out my hand and placed myself between the two.

"Listen, Morelli. I told you the truth! It happened when we were on a break! That one time you clearly told me we were through!" What was wrong with him? Why was he being so irrational? Why didn't he believe me?

Ranger cleared his throat, "I think I'll be going now. I remember I have an appointment with a client. And for your information, Morelli, there's nothing between Stephanie and me. She's telling you the truth, man. And if you're too thick enough to believe her, then it'll be your loss." Morelli was seething now. He took a step towards Ranger but I was blocking his way.

"What are you telling me? That if I don't believe her, she'll go running back to you?" Shit. That stung me bad. My blood pressure rose and I saw my hand sail up and slap his cheek.

"How dare you? I'm not a slut!" Morelli was stunned at what I did. He recovered quickly as his anger replaced his shock.

"Are you sure about that?" Morelli spat the words on my face. He turned and walked back to his car. Ranger held me back as I tried to run towards him with my stun gun tightly held in my fist.

"Let him go. Anger makes men do crazy things. Give him time. It would help a little if you'd also calm yourself, Babe." I stared at Ranger. This was partly his fault too. I gave him my most pissed off look and got in my car. I was going shopping.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

My mouth was hanging open, I tried to say something, but no sound came out. I was staring at myself in front of the parlor's huge mirror. After buying three pairs of shoes and a dress, I went straight to a parlor. Three hours later, I had straight hair. It took a minute to sink in. My curls…

"You look beautiful! You look like Barbie!" I whipped my head around to meet my hairdresser's eyes.

"Barbie's blonde!" I narrowed my eyes. I had wanted something different, I asked her to work her magic on my hair. Instead, she had killed it! My beautiful hair was lying limply on my head. It was dead. The hairdresser became upset at my outburst.

"It's not permanent. It'll be all curly again in a month… more or less."

I stared at my image again. It wasn't so bad. I'd always wondered how I looked like without curls. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a middle-age man staring at me. He was sitting in one of the chairs; a woman was working on his hair. He had lust written all over his eyes and I was surprised he wasn't drooling. He realized that I could see him and gave me an embarrassed look. Well Barbie, eat your heart out.

I left the parlor feeling much better. I walked to my car, enjoying the wind that was blowing through my straight hair. I was heading for Morelli's apartment. I took Ranger's advice and calmed myself while in the parlor. I had time to think things through. Of course Morelli would be mad. Hell, I would have killed him if I found out he did the deed with Terri, even if we were on a break.

My plan was to cook him dinner, to surprise him and get him calmed. Or maybe I should just order pizza; my cooking would probably worsen the situation. I was going to have a _talk_ with him.

When I reached Morelli's apartment I was surprised to find his car parked in front of the house. Damn, he was already home, I didn't have a plan B. I parked next to him and braced myself as I slowly got inside the apartment. It was quite and Morelli was nowhere in sight. The air was filled with the unmistakable smell of Chicken McNuggets. Well, that took care of my dinner plans. I should have known that nothing I planned ever worked out the way it should have.

I jumped at Bob's bark and fell off balance as Bob decided to crash into me with all his weight.

"Steph is that you?" I could not answer him for Bob had also decided to taste my face. Bob was suddenly lifted off me. Morelli helped me up and handed me a tissue to use. I wiped myself clean and looked at Morelli. He had a look of shock and his mouth was hanging open.

"Cupcake, you're hair is straight." He reached out to touch it. At least I was able to surprise him with something.

"Yes I know. I usually take my anger out at my hair." Morelli's face became somber, remembering the pressing issue.

"Sweetheart, I'm really sorry. The thought of you and Ranger just gets my blood boiling." I was going to remind him that there was nothing when he raised his hands.

"Hear me out first. I know what Ranger thinks about when he looks at you. I also know that you're attracted to him. But I pray to God that you don't love him, because I love you." Morelli looked deep into my eyes and placed my hands in his.

"I have loved you ever since the day I took you inside my garage. You drive me crazy and scare the hell out of me. My nerves get stretched when I think about all the psychos that were after you. I hate your job because I'm afraid something bad will happen to you. But if that's what you want to do then I will not force you to quit. I will not force you to do anything. I want you to be happy. I never wanted to hurt you. I know that I have not been the best person in the world, always walking out of your life. But at those times I was scared and confused about us. I know you deserved someone better than me, so I walked out of your life. I have been in and out of your life for some time now but now I want to be permanently in it, because I can't bear to see you with another man. I can't bear to think of a life without you." He let my hands go and was frisking his pockets for something. My heart was going kathunk kathunk against my chest.

"I want to do this right." He retrieved a box out of his pocket and held it in his hands. "Stephanie, I love you. I'm not perfect and can be a jerk sometimes but I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to raise Rex and Bob with you. I promise you that I will never hurt you again. I want to share your tears and laughter. I want you to drive me crazy. Stephanie Plum, will you –." His sentence was cut off by a loud explosion.

Morelli acted instantly. Throwing me on the floor and shielding me with his body. After a few minutes he got up and helped me up to my feet. There was no damage inside the apartment, which meant that the explosion came from the outside. We looked out the window and my eyes popped open at the sight of Morelli's car, or what was left of it.

Shit. What was this about? Hell, I wasn't after and skip and all my enemies were either dead or in jail. The sound of sirens weren't far off. I looked at Morelli. He seemed irritated with the fact that his proposal was disturbed and looked uncertain at the box in his hand and then me.

I opened my mouth to tell him what my answer was but he cut me off. "We'll finish this later. I want you to think about it." He gave me slow kiss before he walked towards the door.

"I love you too." I whispered the words and saw him stop in his tracks. He turned around to look at me. I ran to him and threw my arms around him. He caught me and hugged me tightly. He released me and kissed me hard. Taking the ring out of the box he looked at me once again. I nodded and he slipped it on my finger. I was feeling very emotional at the sight of the ring on my finger. Morelli had done it right. It was perfect. Except for the explosion, but if I pretended they were fireworks… Oh God! I loved him so much! Tears were running down my cheeks. He leaned and kissed the tears on my cheeks and on my eyes.

There was knock on the door and Morelli looked me in the eyes. "Where did you get the bomb?" I punched him lightly on the chest, choking on my tears as I tried to laugh. He grinned at me and kissed me again before he went to answer the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

My ears where still ringing from Mary Lou's squeals. She'd take care of telling everybody about the news, calling her first would save me the time, plus the fact that she'd kill me if she heard it from someone else.

I felt my heart beat fast as I called my parent's house. I prayed they would believe that this time it was for real. Morelli wasn't thinking about sex when he proposed to me. It wasn't to lure me into staying with him in the mean time. He wanted a lifetime. I felt a fresh batch of tears roll down my cheeks.

My mother picked up before I could control myself. I gave her a quivering hello, and heard her suck in her breath. "Stephanie, what is it? What happened? Is someone after you?" I choked on my laughter, which was probably a bad move, because I knew I sounded like I just choked to death. I quickly cleared me throat before my mother thought the worst.

"Mom, nothing's wrong! I'm getting married!" There was a brief pause.

"Which one is it?" How many men did she think I had in my life?

"To Joe. Joe Morelli! Who else would I marry?" There was another brief silence.

"Are you sure?" I rolled my eyes and tried not to sigh.

"Yes! Why would I be crying? Mother, I even have a ring to prove it. We're serious this time." I heard a thunk and I knew the phone was dropped. Bad sign. My mother has fainted. I yelled into the phone for a few seconds before I heard a voice again.

"Hello? Hello? Who's on the phone? Why are you shouting? I can hear you just fine! It's not nice to shout on the phone, you know." It was Grandma Mazur.

"Grandma, it's me Steph."

"Steph? Is that you? What did you tell your mother? Is it something about your job? Where you almost killed? Why is your mother on her knees? She looks like she's praying." I could hear my mother shouting praises to God in the background. This was a good sign. I heard a struggle and my mother was back on the phone.

"Oh Stephanie! That's wonderful, thank God! Congratulations! Oh, thank God, it's about time! Let me talk to Joe. I want to thank him." I suddenly remembered the explosion and where Morelli was. I told her that he was preoccupied with something right now, and that I had to tend to something as well.

"Alright, you go ahead and don't you worry about the wedding. We'll take care of everything!" I could hear Grandma Mazur's voice in the background asking "what wedding?" There was another struggle for the phone.

"What wedding, Steph? Who you marrying?"

"I'm marrying Joe, Grandma."

"Oh. I thought you were marrying that Ranger guy."

"What? What makes you think that?"

"Oh it's nothing. I'm happy for the both of you. It's about time that Morelli treat you right. Oh, and watch out for Morelli. Men get turned on faster when there's an engagement ring on their girl. Why, I remember when your grandpa and I got engaged, he couldn't keep his –."

"Give me that phone! Stephanie, don't listen to your grandmother. You take care of Joe and yourself. I'll prepare an engagement dinner. I want both of you here on Wednesday!"

I saluted on the phone and gave a sigh of relief. I made it to the front lawn just in time to see some of the cops picking up the car parts off the lawn carefully. Morelli was in deep conversation with one of them. I looked around the front of the apartment. There were a few cracks on the wall and on the window. Different car parts were scattered on the lawn. There were so many different parts that some of them even seemed to come from another car. I felt my back stiffen as I suddenly realized something.

"Where's my car?" It came out as a whisper and nobody paid attention to me.

"Morelli! My car! It, it's…" Morelli turned at the sound of my voice. I watched him move towards me in slow motion. His mouth was pressed thin. He reached out to me and took me in his arms, patting my back and smoothing my hair.

"I'm sorry, Cupcake. It was wrecked and towed out of here a while ago." I was not going to cry over this. It's just a car. A car I haven't fully paid for. Another car down the drain… Get a grip, girl! It's just a car, nothing to fuss about. Too late, Morelli's shirt was already drenched.

"Listen, Steph, I think you should stay at you mother's house tonight." I looked up at Morelli. He tried to look nonchalant, but there was worry written all over his face.

"Why? What's going on? Were you working on something? Is someone after you?" I narrowed my eyes at him; my wrecked car was completely forgotten. He was hiding something and I intended to get it out of him.

He hesitated before answering, "It's kind of complicated. Look, I'll be spending the whole night at the station and I don't want to leave you alone in the house. I want you to be safe." He looked almost pleading.

"All right. But I want to know what's going on! And you better tell me as soon as you can." He kissed me on the lips before he lead me to a police car. Instead of helping me inside he trapped me between the passenger door and his body as he leaned against me. He held on to my waist and tugged at my hair.

"Did I tell you that I like what you did to your hair? I think it's sexy." He gave me sly smile. He held my hand up and admired the ring on my finger; he had a look of pure desire in his face. I laughed as I remembered something.

"You know, I heard somewhere that men get turned on when they see a ring on their girl."

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Oh no one. And I won't be satisfying any of your desires until you tell me what you're hiding. You're not off the hook yet."

Morelli smiled at me and gave me another kiss before letting me free to get inside the car. A cop showed up and he was given a brief instruction. Morelli leaned back on the door.

"I'll fill you in as soon as I can. In the mean time, try to behave yourself. Don't try to nose around, I promise that I'll tell you everything."

"Me nose around? For your information, I do not nose around. I investigate." I slammed the passenger door shut. The car started and I waved goodbye through the window. He nodded and stood still for a long while. I watched him grow smaller and smaller as the car gathered speed.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

I woke up smelling cinnamon in the air. My neck was a little stiff from sleeping on the couch of my parents' house. My head weighed a ton and I groaned at the thought of getting up. My impromptu sleepover caught all of them by surprise. Mother reheated the food and had a mini celebration for me. They were too excited about planning for my wedding that nobody asked why I was here in the first place. I decided not to spoil the fun. They'd probably find out all about the incident after Grandma's trip to the parlor. Unfortunately, all rooms were still taken and I felt too tired to complain about the couch.

"Good morning, cupcake." I was startled to hear Morelli's voice. I opened my eyes completely and saw him sitting on the coffee table. He leaned over and kissed me on the forehead.

"Looks like you're well rested." He smiled and I would have hit him, if he didn't look so tired himself.

"How long were you sitting there?" I checked to see if I had drool on my chin.

"Long enough to want you bad." Morelli started to move towards me. I sat up quickly and placed my hand on his chest.

"Joe, my mother is just at the other room!" He laughed and kissed me on the lips instead.

"I can't stay long, cupcake. Just came by to see if you're okay. It's safe to go back to the apartment. There'll be a cop there, keeping an eye out until I get back tonight. We'll talk later, the station will be keeping me busy for a while." I walked him to the door and gave him a final kiss before he left. By orders of my growling stomach, I made my way to the kitchen.

My mother was busy putting something in the oven. I instinctively reached for the cookie jar but was stopped by my mother's words, "Don't touch that! Those are desserts, not breakfast! Did Joe leave already? Don't forget, you're having dinner here tomorrow." I rolled my eyes, quickly snatched a cookie, and ran to the bathroom.

I entered the office feeling awkward in Valerie's most decent clothes. A yellow floral Sunday dress. I borrowed the Buick and left the house quickly before my mother could ask me anything about my car. Both Connie and Lula stopped what they were working at as they noticed me.

"Well, lookie, here. Barbie just walked in." I laughed and told Lula that Barbie didn't have brown hair.

"Sweetheart, Barbie comes in different types of hair color now, you know, to avoid being sued for discrimination." Lula stood up and walked closer to where I was standing. She put her hands on her hips and frowned a little.

"There's something different about you. It's not the girly dress or that hair of yours." Connie joined in and started searching for something in my face. I smiled at both of them and held out my hand. Their eyes widened at the sight of the ring on my finger.

"My God! You've gone and done it! You tied yourself down!" I raised my eyebrow at Connie. That wasn't how I viewed my situation. She saw my reaction and retracted.

"I mean, that's great! Congratulations to you and Morelli! It is Morelli, right?" Lula looked like she was going to slap Connie behind the head.

"Of course it's Morelli! Ranger's not the mar—." She stopped mid sentence and seemed to be staring at someone behind me. I turned around, my hand still held up, to see Ranger looking handsome in black. His eyes were looking at my hand, his reaction, if there was one, was hard to read. I suddenly put down my hand and his eyes found mine. I sucked my breath and waited.

He gave me a little nod, "Steph." Turned to the other two and he gave them a small twitch at one side of his mouth, which I assumed was a smile, "Ladies." I heard both of them sigh and watched Ranger turn around to leave the building.

I was stunned. He called me Steph. What the hell was that supposed to mean? It wouldn't kill him to add a few words to his sentences. I could have gotten his meaning with context clues!

"That's weird. Batman came and went without asking for any FTA's. In fact, he didn't do anything but greet us then leave." Connie was eying me suspiciously. I shrugged.

"Do you have any FTA for me? I really need to buy a new car." I quickly changed the subject. It would be useless to talk about Ranger. There was no knowing what went on in his mind. They wondered about my car and I told them what happened yesterday, from the proposal to the explosion. Afterwards, Connie handed me a file.

"You're in luck. This one's big." I looked at the file and frowned. Lindsay Morgan, whose bond was worth $45,000, was arrested for shooting her husband. I looked back at Connie.

"She shot her husband to death!"

"It was self defense! Her husband was beating her up, if she didn't do what she did, then it'd be her husband you'd be chasing after. She's not a cold blooded killer or a psycho, Steph. She could be just scared to go to court, that's why she didn't show."

"I'll go with you. You know, to help you out in case she's more trouble than she seems." I smiled at Lula.

"We're taking you're car."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"So tell me girl, why'd you finally say yes?" Lula took her eyes of the road to look at me.

"Watch the road!" I yelled suddenly as an old lady was making her way across the street.

"Shit!" Lula braked instinctively but seemed to have decided that swerving might save all their lives. She hit the signpost instead. "Fucking old lady." She mumbled to herself before she came out to see the damage.

I whistled as I saw the damage done, not only to Lula's car but to the signpost as well. People gathered around like flies finding dog shit. A policeman came and started asking questions. The car was finally towed, with Lula in the passenger seat of the tower. I waved to her and mouthed good-bye. Just my luck…

I took out my cell phone and gave Joe a ring. Then another ring. Then another. Where the hell was he? I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost lunchtime. There was really no need to look at my watch, when my stomach was already sounding the alarm. I searched the streets until I saw the big yellow "M".

After I gulped down my lunch, I sat silently in my chair. How the hell was I going to get to the Morgan's house? I dialed Morelli's number again. This time, it was no longer ringing but giving me a busy signal… Where, oh, where could my fiancé be? I looked at my cell phone and decided to go against reason and dialed Ranger's number. I held my breath until I heard a voice.

"Steph?" Tank's voice boomed loud and clear.

"Where's Ranger?"

"He, uh, kind of can't get to the phone right now?" I raised my eyebrows.

"He can't get to his cell phone? Shouldn't he have it with him in the first place?"

"Hey, you don't always have your cell phone with you!" I groaned, what was going on?

"Listen, Tank, I really need to talk to Ranger. I'm, uh, in need of his service." There was a muffled sound as Tank placed a hand on the speaker. I wondered if Ranger was there beside him.

"Tank, is Ranger there? Who are you talking to?"

"Babe, where are you?" I caught my breath at the shiver his voice sent through my spine. I told him where I was. He told me to wait up. I told my self to behave like an engaged woman.

It took him fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant. I knew Ranger was inside because all the women started to get that dreamy look in their eyes. I waved at him and he made his way to my table.

"What's this about? You and Morelli broke up?" I wasn't sure if he was joking or if there was a hint of hope in his eyes. I could never really trust my people-reading skills.

"I need you to help me bring in an FTA…" I told him about the case.

"Why don't you ask your fiancé for help?" Why the hell was he always bringing Joe up. Now I could sense some bitterness in his words.

"Because I couldn't reach him! What is wrong with you anyway? Are you mad at me for accepting his proposal or something? You should be happy, it was you who sent me back to him in the first place!" I was getting angrier by the minute. What did he expect? That Joe and I would stay as an on and off couple forever?

"Would you have said yes, if I asked you to marry me?" His words where whispered. My heart stopped beating and my jaw fell open. He was staring straight into my eyes. He looked deadly serious, and then there was something else in his eyes that I couldn't read. He stood up silently and started for the exit. He was halfway there, when he turned around.

"Are you coming or what? I don't have all day." I was still stunned at his words a few minutes ago, and now I was confused. Did I just imagine that he asked me the question? He was acting as if nothing happened.

I stood up slowly and followed him to his car. I slid inside the car and looked at him as he started the engine and drove off. I wanted to ask him if he had really asked me the question and if he expected an answer. But he looked straight ahead and didn't seem like he wanted to chat.

I looked out the window instead and wondered on all the possible reasons why he would ask me that question. Jealousy? Curiosity? Love… I shivered at the last notion. Ranger loved me? My mind was floating at the idea when I was suddenly startled by his deep voice.

"We're here." I stole a glance towards him again and was shocked to find he was already outside leaning into his open window. We had stopped minutes ago and I didn't even notice. I got out quickly and looked at Lindsay Morgan's house. I couldn't think of a way to approach her. All I could think about were those haunting words.

"Babe, are you okay?" I whipped my head around. Am I okay???

"No I'm not okay! How could you think I would be when you put inside my head the possibility of you asking me to be your wife?" This time it was his turn to look surprised.

"Fuck." I suddenly smiled as I finally realized something…

"You never meant to say it out loud, did you?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Lucky Nine **

**By Breank**

**Chapter 6**

_Oh my God! _It's not often you get two marriage proposals in a span of two days. Ranger still had his stunned look. Hell, I felt like I unmasked Batman. I wanted to laugh out loud. But then Ranger took a step forward and the look in his eyes made my breath stop.

"What if I mean it?" He took another step forward and instinctively I took a step back.

"W-what do you mean?" I could hear someone in the back of head screaming MORELLI!

"Would you have said yes to me?"

"I-I don't know."

"If I told you that I loved you and wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, would you marry me?" I looked at Ranger real hard. Was he serious? His face had returned to its unreadable state. Underneath Batman's mask is just another mask. I decided to play it safe and act like he might be joking.

"Well, if you put it that way, then ye—." Suddenly, Ranger tackled me to the ground. At first, I thought he was going to kiss me until I heard the very loud piercing scream and the single gunshot that silenced it.

Ranger was instantly on his feet with a gun in his hand. He told me to stay put as he snaked his way to the house. He peeked into the window and tried to open the door. I was already at his side as Ranger tried to pick the lock. He narrowed his eyes at my disobedience. I just smiled and waited until I heard a click and the door swung open.

The house was all quiet and dark. Ranger scanned the room. I imitated him as best as I could. Even holding my pepper spray the way he held his gun. It didn't take long to find Lindsay Morgan. She was sitting on the couch. She was perfectly still, with her eyes closed. I noticed a gun in her hand. Then I noticed the bloody hole at the side of her head. After that all I could think of was trying to calm myself. Lindsay Morgan had committed suicide.

I was leaning on the car watching a cop talk to Ranger. A few minutes later, I wasn't surprised to see Morelli make his way into the lawn. He was looking around and I knew that he was searching for me. His back stiffened when he spotted Ranger. I called his attention then. He turned around and his face softened at the sight of me. I ran to him and he held me in his arms.

"My FTA killed herself." He kissed my cheek and told me he knew all about it.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt?" I shook my head. He kissed me on the lips then held me an arm's length in front of him.

"What the hell is Ranger doing here?" In less than a minute, Morelli had been able to change his voice from sweet sounding to repressed-angry sounding.

"I tried to reach you, but you obviously decided not answer any calls today. So I called Ranger." I shrugged my shoulders and hoped that he'd calm down. Ranger was already making his way to the car. He stopped in front of us and nodded to acknowledge Morelli's presence.

"They want us to go downtown." Ranger took my arm and started to lead me to the car. I felt Morelli's grip tightened.

"Hold on a minute. She's riding with me." Ranger was about to argue with him when Morelli's phone started ringing. Both men were staring at each other, ignoring the annoying sound, and looking ready to shoot each other.

"Joe, answer your phone!" Morelli let go of me and answered his phone but he still kept his eyes on Ranger who still had his hand on my arm. Morelli's face darkened at whatever he was hearing on the phone. When the call ended he looked ready to break phone with his grip.

"Fuck. I have to go." He turned to me and gave me a knee weakening kiss complete with tongue and all. This time it was Ranger's grip that tightened on my arm. Morelli turned to Ranger and scowled at him. "Don't do anything stupid!"


End file.
